Wye Valley Pillbox

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smiffy

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Not much of a 'grand explore' I'll admit but I know some of you will be interested....especially maybe Foxylady???? …………:)
This is one of the old pillboxs in the Wye Valley to defend the road bridge at Brockweir….There is another one the same as this a little further along the hedge but that one is even more overgrown than this one is and this one is pretty bad….Without a billhook there was no way to get in through the door of this one and the other was so hidden it would have been pointless to take a photo of it….For you technical minded folk it has an end door and firing apertures along each side….and is of ‘cast concrete’ construction not of bricks or whatever else they used……inside under each set of windows is a sort of ledge or shelf supposedly to rest yer arm on when pointing your rifle out the windows but what’s really great about this box is that it still has the remains of the little doors that would have closed off the firing apertures…..I haven’t seen many that still have these……….
Below this position the bridge is protected by another 2 pillboxs………...one in use as a shed in the garden of the little gate house on the ‘English’ side of the bridge and the other one is in the meadow at the back of the toll house on the Welsh side of the bridge….(That one is very wet and manky inside and the floor is covered in sheep muck)…… This whole position is part of the stop line that followed the route of the River Wye……….the position of these 2 pillboxs up on the hill overlooking the bridge is great and they would have had a tremendous field of fire should the day of action ever have come….From here you can see the road approaching the bridge from Chepstow and would also have been able to cover the now long dis-used railway in each direction that also wound its way along the valley from Chepstow to Monmouth………
The ‘front’ of the pillbox facing the bridge………
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The field of fire………
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If yer wondering the bridge is hidden behind the huge oaks.............
 
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I love pillboxes, really nice find there, esp with the aperture doors :D
 
If you like your pill boxes in that area, head down to sudbrook, go into the childrens park at the end of the paper mill and there is two there in mint condition.
 
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The wye valley had a stopline going up it, so there will be a few hundred pillboxes around. ;)
 
Incidentally that isn't a standard pillbox, it looks more like a 'custom' defended position, and all pillboxes are made of 'cast concrete', they just use different types of 'shuttering' to hold the concrete in as it dries, some use bricks, some use wood, some use corrugated iron and a few use breeze blocks.
 
pillboxs

The wye valley had a stopline going up it, so there will be a few hundred pillboxes around. ;)


Yeah there are quite a few scattered about..... mostly close to road or rail bridges so I've decided that'll be a good little winter project to log as many as poss and get them up on here.....Winter will be a better time to do it in that the hedges and vegetation will all die back a bit and i can hopefully get a few good photos..watch this space.............
PS: Regarding the construction method.....wasn't there a pillbox on here a while back built outta rocks ??? I think it was on a moor somewhere and I think there was also one on a cliff somewhere posted up here too???? Would they have been actually stone construction like a cottage or farm wall would be or would the stone have been 'fronting' a concrete inner shell ????:)


EDIT:
Just had a mooch and found Graybags post.....'Unusual Pillbox near Capel Curig , Snowdonia '
It looks like a right mixture of stonework with a bit of brick and a concrete roof???????
 
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all pillboxes are made of 'cast concrete', they just use different types of 'shuttering' to hold the concrete in as it dries, some use bricks, some use wood, some use corrugated iron and a few use breeze blocks.

If you see a pillbox with bricks or stone on the outside it's just a 'skin' of bricks or stone, inside it's still concrete. Also don't forget the pillboxes were disguised, so might have used bricks or rocks to disguise them as animal shelters, barns, etc.
 

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